Referencing Trayvon Martin, racist slurs and bottles thrown at black students from Cornell frat house

This is beyond heinous: 

A group of partiers on the roof of a Cornell frat house allegedly taunted black students and threw objects — including an empty Jack Daniels bottle — at them as they passed on the street.

Beverly Fonkwo, a sophomore, says she and a friend were walking home when people began throwing things at them from the Sigma Pi roof. When she confronted the crowd, she says, they threw more trash and a full beer can, saying “come on up here, Trayvon” and making other racist remarks.

The president of the fraternity, Zach Smith, told the Cornell Daily Sun on Sunday that the frat had “figured out who the perpetrator was, and will turn his name over to police.” Smith claimed that only one person was involved in the attack, and that the perpetrator was not a member of the fraternity.

The Cornell Sun reports that Cornell’s Chief of Police Kathy Zoner has confirmed people were making racist slurs and throwing bottles from the roof, but would not report more as an investigation by Ithaca Police is ongoing. But according to that statement and  the students’ account of what must have have been a ridiculously fucked and scary experience, there were multiple people involved in the attack.

“I feel like it was targeted and racially motivated … we felt very threatened,” Beverly Fonkwo said, adding that the assailants “were just laughing at the whole situation until we called the police and then they ran inside.”

We’ll keep you posted on any updates.

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